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Qfd Xiftioa. 



f^iiiHil^; 



A Sketch of Old Utica. 



i/ 




L. C. Childs & Son's Print, 
Utica, N. Y. 



NTRODUCTION. 



" In these mansions used to be 
Free heai'ted hospitality. 
Here great fires up tlie cliimney roared 
And guests oft gatliered at the board." 

The old houses of Utica are so rapidly disappeariiij;- from our 
streets before the march of modern improvement, that it has 
been deemed of sufficient interest to jot down these fragmen- 
tary details of the life of some of the early settlers and descrip- 
tions of their dwellings, for the pleasure of those now living", and 
perhaps for the amusement of those who are to come after us ; 
who may scarcely refrain from a smile at the quaintness and sim- 
plicity of the life in Utica in its early days. 

The little village has grown into a beautiful city, far surpassing 
the dreams or hopes of its original founders in the luxur}' and 
beauty of its houses ; yet there was an air of substantial com- 
fort and stately dignity about these old homes that will not be 
effaced from the memories of those who as children had the 
happiness to sit around the ancient fireplaces, or to gather fruits 
and flowers in fields and orchards now built over by solid blocks 
of stores and houses. 

Utica, N. Y., Oct. 15, 1895. 

Blandina Dudley Miller. 



UTICA'S OLD HOMES. 



Some Historic Houses of the City's Early Days. 



In writiiif^- of the old lioinL'S in Utica, the very name brings 
before one large substantial looking buildings of wood, brick or 
stone, and of but two designs, the double house or a single house 
with wings, the front door surmounted with a fanlight, and the 

side lights divided into 



squares and diamonds by 
[ight-wreaths of metal. The 
door knobs and knockers 
will be of shining brass, and 
the iron railing up the ste|;s 
will usually be finished 
with two brass balls which 
reflect the sunlight far and 
near. A hall running the 
entire length of the house 
will usually have tinted pil- 
lars and a fanlight dividing 
it in two, and the handsome 
staircase with an easy as ■ 

cent will either be at the end of the hall, or may be placed at 

right angles. In either case the mahogany balustrade and carved 

post make it a conspicuous feature. 

In the house built by Samuel Stocking, on Broad street, the 

hall is of unusual size and beautv. The walls are decorated 




thp: stockim;, dk.xio, <>k toi ki ki.i.ut 

HOUSE. 



g A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

with paintings executed by an English artist by the name 
of Gordon. They represent Trenton Falls, a town in France, 
and a scene in Oswego, where one of his daughters was 
then living. This house, since occupied by Judge Denio and 
now by his daughter. Mrs. Louis A. Tourtellot, has often been 
quoted as one of the best and handsomest models in this part of 
the state. 




MRS. CHARLES A. MANN HOUSE. 



In the house built by Mr. Bagg in 1824 for his family and 
afterwards occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Charles A. Mann, are 
beautiful rooms and high mantlepieces with elaborate carvings, 
and a hall large enough to make a modern "apartment," while 
a tine garden extended to Main street, and was always full of 
flowers. 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 





HAI.L OF MRS. C 



MANN Ht)USE. 



i f v-a 



JUUGK NATHAN WILLIAMS, THE WAGER, OK 
GOODWIN, HOUSE 




MRS. M Ann's garden, rear oe house. 



tf 



^X- 




MRS. WACJER S DINING ROOM. 

On Whitesboro street is still stand- 
ing-, and but little changed in exter- 
nal appearance, the house built by 
Judge Nathan Williams, and in 
which five generations of the family 
have lived. Here also we shall find 



J SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 




I.NIKKKJK V\ A(;KK-(.ii()1i\S IN HiU'M- 
(Judge Williams, Whitesboro street i 



beautiful specimens of carved woodwork on mantelpieces and 
doors, while the handsomely proportioned parlor, papered with 
the quaintest of designs, great branching trees and vines of a 
Chinese pattern, always attracted much attention and admi- 
ration. The large garden and orchard ran down to Water 
street, and were most attractive. 




' / 



N y i^ *' -> 

•c^ >} Y i*5 '>^ 

* * < 







OLD UTICA. 



9 



J 



THE SEYMOUR HOUSE ON WHITESBORO 
STREET 

Williams with only a hedge 
between. All the family were 
strongly attached to this house, 
and carried its ruling ideas into 
their own widely scattered 
homes as much as possible. 

Gov. Seymour spent many of 
his happiest days here and 
his attachment, which seemed 
only to increase with his 
years, sometimes resulted in a 
rather unfortunate fondness for 
all the old things and an aver- 
sion to many needed improve- 
ments. When he esconsced him- 
self in his easy chair by the side 
of the fire always kept blazing in 



Next to Judge Williams' was 
tiie pleasant double brick 
house built by David Childs in 
about i8io or 1812. It was 
afterwards purchased by Henry 
Seymour in 1820 and is still 
owned by his grandchildren, 
although not occupied by any 
of them. Here, as in many 
other houses of the time, we 
shall find the delightful fire- 
places and Dutch ovens, and a 
large, cheerful, basement 
kitchen whose windows open 
on the attractive garden. The 
comfort and cheerfulness of 
this large house was much in- 
creased by the beautiful gar- 
dens which joined that of judge 




FIREPLACE & MANTEL IN SEYMOUR HOUSE 



10 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 



the sunny east room, and drew out a pile of newspapers, he 
was a picture of enjoyment not often seen. Although the last 
years of his life were spent in Deerfield on his farm he seldom 
let a day pass without spending- many hours in the old home. 





PARLfiK OF HENRV SEYMOUR HoUSK. 

K.AST ROOM OR DIM.XG ROO.M. 

On moving to D e e r fi e 1 d 
and making a farmer of him- 
self he remodeled and added to 
a farm house on the place, and 
made a house picturesque and 
attractive to look at without 
being very comfortable to live 
in. It was a rambling house 
that ran all overand lost itself, 
and the crooked stairs were a 
SEYMOUR HOUSE i.N DEERFiELi). problcui to uuiny to uiouut or 
descend in safetv. His delight was to collect in his librarv and 




A SKETCH 01' OLD i'TICA. 



11 




parlors all historic mementoes of the j)ast, and in looking;- at them 
and recalling" thee\ents these inaniniati' ohjects had had a share 
in, he seemed to live the past o\er again, and his informal con- 
versations npon them were 
dehghtful to listen to. 
"Now sit on Daniel Web- 
ster's chair a little while " he 
would say, ' 'then try Bishop 
White's to brace up your 
c h u r c h m a n s h i p ; then 
mount this high backed 
chair of Charles II's day and 
you will be glad to settle 
down in your great Aunt skvmour i.,,isk farlmk, i,f.kki.iki,i.. 

Dudley's chair, the most com- 
fortable of them all. Gen. 
Schuyler's clock is telling 
you it is time to go to bed 
and Gen. Forman will tell 
you when to get up in the 
morning. These old trees 
talk only Dutch and Indian 
so they can tell no tales to 
you. I manage to understand 
them, because they belong 
to Mrs. Seymour who is 
Dutch herself." 

The view from his front 
piazza was inspiring indeed, 
and here he loved to sit un- 
der the shadow of his fav- 
uRivETo DEERFiELu FARM. orltc bkck chcrry tree of 

-■reat size and retrace the route of the different nations that 




12 



A SKETCH OF OLD I 'TIC A. 



"hadtraversed this broad valley of the Mohawk. "Why do you 
always say the broad valley of the Mohawk, Governor ?" asked 
Senator Kernan, who always kept up a running fire of jest and 
quips with his old friend. " Be-cause neither you nor any 
one else would ever think how broad this valley is if I 
did not keep telling you it was so. Mohawk valley sounds very 
commonplace and tells you nothing. When I say the ' broad ' 
valley it makes you look to see how wide it is. " 

His library was well filled with interesting books on history, 
ornithology, botany, etc., and he took the keenest delight in 
watching the habits of the birds on the farm, and never would 
allow one to be disturbed. Wild fiowers he was especially fond 
of, and took unwearied 
pains to have great clumps 
of all his favorites growing 
on the edge of the beautiful 
woods back of his house. 
" I do not like the trailing 
arbutus at all," he once 
said. ' ' It will not grow 
for me. I have transplanted 
it from many localities, and skvmour uolse library, ukkkfield. 
brought a wagon load of its native soil to make it feel at home, 
but to no purpose. I believe it knows my indifference to my 
Puritan ancestors, and so this little New England May flower 
will have nothing to do with me. k\\ the Dutch ' bloemen ' 
bloom delightfully here. Your arbutus is an obstinate little 
minx. I will have no more of it." 

THE INMAN HOUSES. 

On the beautiful drive from Utica out to Whitesboro stand 
the two Inman houses, very different in style and appearance, 
and both very interesting. Henry Inman came to this countr 
from England in 1792, and had charge of large estates owned b 




A SKETCH OF OLD UT/CA. 13 

a gentleman in London. He lixcd first in the picturesque Eng- 
lish cottage on the north side of the road, and, being a man 
of ample fortune, led the life of a country gentleman, driving 
about in a heavy English carriage and wearing powdered 
hair, with knee breeches and buckles. The old road must have 
run much closer to the house than at present, and our English- 
man presently becoming choked with the Yankee dust, built 
the large substantial looking house on the south side of the road, 
standing far back from the trees, and which impresses the 
passer-by as a mansion of ye olden time. Mr. Inman was one 
of the founders of the old Trinity church, and an original pew 
holder. His sons distinguished themselves in different walks of 
life. John Inman was editor of the leading New York papers of 
the day, such as the Coliiinbian Ga:;cttc, Spirit of the Times, 
etc. Henry Inman became an artist of note on bcjth sides of 
the Atlantic. He at first painted miniatures under Jarvis in 
New York, but gained greater reputation as a painter of por- 
traits and genre pictures. Among his best pictures are those of 
Chief Justice Marshall, Bishop White, Rip Van Winkle awaken- 
ing from his dream, Boyhood of Washington, etc. In addition 
to his talent as an artist, his social and conversational gifts were 
of the highest order. He became vice president of the National 
Academy of Design. 

THE YORK HOUSE. 

On the north side of Whitesboro street, corner of Hotel 
street, stands the large yellow brick hotel, formerly known as 
the York house, and whose history is closely associated with 
many interesting events in the early days of Utica. It was 
built in 1797 by Samuel Hooker for the Holland Land Com- 
pany to accommodate the many settlers who were beginning to 
pour into the western part of the state to settle on the com- 
pany's land. Though apparently far too large a hotel for the 



14 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 



commodation for man and beast 




size of the village, it was often taxed to its utmost capacity by 
these settlers coming up through the valley and requiring ac- 

In the annals of Albany, it is 
stated that in 1795, twelve 
hundred sleighs loaded with 
men, women and children, 
and all household belong- 
ings, passed through Albany, 
en route for the west, in three 
days. 

The York House was an 
excellent hotel, and its reg- 
ister, if it had been pre- 
served, could show the 
names of many people of 
distinction. The wide 
sweep of the street in front 
was made to allow the 
stages and carriages, with their four and six horses, to turn 
around. In the second story was a large ball room with an 
excellent spring floor, where were held all the fashionable balls 
or assemblies of the da\-. At one end of the ball room was a 
wooden screen painted and cut out to represent trees and groves 
in a sort of Forest of Arden effect. At the sound of the music 
the dancers emerged from behind these trees, and when the 
graceful gavottes or scarf dances were finished they disappeared 
into these leafy shades, which was thought to have a verv beauti- 
ful effect. The room was lighted by candelabra, and sconces 
filled with wax candles, and woe to the unlucky beau who forgot 
himself and stood lingering beneath them. His garments were 
apt to be covered with a waxen coating difficult to remove. 

These balls and parties began at seven o'clock in the evening, 
(think of this, ye fin-de-siecle belles and beaux !) until some 



THK YORK HOUSK. 



A SKETCH 01' OLD UTICA. 



15 



ultra fashionables from New York made a sensation by coming 
at the unheard of hour of half past seven. And from that time 
on the village belles found it difficult to complete their toilettes 
before that hour — while their parents mourned over the evils of 
fashionable life and customs. 



^-'1l^^^^^ll^^^''^^^^^>t^'^^^^^^\t^j\jsi^ 



J^eVD^iear's Ball, 



•®i.- 



at a BAl 
day evening ngjcty of 6 o'clock 



THE COMPANY OF 



cy^^ 



/? requested at a BALL, Trowbrjdg£.*s HoTel^ ok- Wcdncs 



\ 

S 

\ 



UtfCihDcc^29, 1305 



Ps-XER Colt, 

PEKj'lf IVaLKER^ 

GERRjr G. Lansing, 
Alex'r CoVENrRT^ 

J. H. LoruBOP, 



I <<j 



-^ 



\ 

m 
\ 

S 
S 



The word hotel was cut as well as painted on the front walls 
of the building, and no subsequent painting could ever efface it, 
even when used as a private residence. It still stands as a me- 
morial of The Holland Land Company in the early days of 
Utica, and was the largest hotel this side of New York city for 
many years. 




16 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 




THK Mll.LKR HOUSE IN 1S50. 



In 1820 Judge Morris S. Miller began to lay out the grounds 
and to plant the trees and shrubs on that part of the Bleecker 
property since known as Rutger place, at the head of John 
street. In the family the place never had a name of any pre- 
tense, it was and is to-day called "The Hill," or "Up on the 
Hill." " Miller's Folly" was a name given by many at the time 
— so remote was it from all neighbors and friends. A carriage 
seen crossing John street bridge was surely coming to The Hill, 
for there was no other place to go to through the muddy lane 
called John street. The seat originally extended from Howard 
avenue to Dudley avenue, and from Rutger to South street. 

A stone wall was built all along the northern line of the place, 
and a pretty winding walk led through the shrubbery nearly 
around the entire place. This shrubbery of purple and white 
lilacs, snowballs, syringa, etc., formed a dense wall of green 
overhanging the stone wall, and a large willow at the gate 
sheltered the rather narrow entrance from all outsiders. 
Mountain ash trees and honey locusts grew luxuriantly in the 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 



17 




-CONKLING S 



rich soil, aiul combined with the other trees, fonncd ^rove-like 

clumps all over the ^a-ounds. 
Fruit trees were in great 
profusion, and the Bleeck- 
er and orange plum were 
planted everywhere, and 
were famcnis. Judge Miller 
died before the house was 
built, except its foundations, 
but his original jilan was 
carried out and the house 
completed in about 1830. 
The square stone building- 
was surrounded on each side 
by two small Grecian tem- 
ple buildings, /. c. a low 
pediment and pillars ; the 
one on the west was the of- 
fice, and that on the east served for the gardener's and coach- 
man's house, and ran back to the wood house and stable. These 
houses were connected with the main house by the upper piazza, 
which extended across the carriage drives to the roof, and gave 
something the effect of a huge bird. 

Notable men and women have been gathered under its walls 
from the first Sunday when Mrs. Miller occupied it. The dining 
room and hall were the only rooms in order. Judge Conkling 
was in town holding court, and Rutger B. Miller was his clerk. 
The judge was invited to Sunday dinner, and was the first guest 
in the house that was destined to be the home of his son, Sena- 
tor Conkling, for so many years. Old Jimmy, the household 
factotum, was in despair for the honor of his family — such a 
stately, elegant man as Judge Conkling coming to dinner and no 
parlor to show him into ! My .grandmother was perfectly com- 

3 



APPROACH To MH.LER S SEAT- 
HOUSE. 



18 -4 SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

posed. "You have a good dinner ?" " Yes, ma'am." " Very 
well, serve it well and no one will feel the lack of another room. 
Friends come before furnishings." 

Hospitality was the cornerstone of the house, and a long ar- 
ray of pleasant guests were to follow. Bishop Hobart, Bishop 
DeLancey, General Scott, Colonel Worth, General Stephen Van 
Rensselaer, General Bloomfield, Mrs. Schuyler and her beauti- 
ful daughter, now Mrs. John Taylor Cooper, of Albany ; Mrs. 
Davidson and her talented young daughters, Margaret, and 
Lucretia ; Gerrit Smith, the noted abolitionist, and his southern 
wife, Anne Carroll Fitzhugh ; Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, 
Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Dudley, from Albany, Mrs. Miller's 
beautiful nieces, Mrs. Tibbits and Mrs. Neilson, made a circle 
not often excelled. 

How clearly comes before me among the few recollections I 
have of the place, the morning early in the spring of 1850, 
when a party of men with spades, picks and wheelbarrows ar- 
rived and began breaking the ground to the west of the house 
for the house of J. Wyman Jones ! We children thought it 
most interesting, and could not at all understand the white, sad 
faces of the older members of the household, to whom it was the 
beginning of the end, the breaking up of the old homestead into 
city lots and places. 

OTHER RESIDENTS. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Walker lived here for several years, 
and pleasantly entertained many of the favorite artists, poets 
and sculptors of the day, while Senator Conkling, during his resi- 
dence of more than twenty-five years, gathered here all the noted 
men of his time. ' ' This is a marvelous house, '" said Mrs. Conklintr. 
after entertaining a large party of friends for several days. 
"There is ample room for the pleasure and comfort of many 
people, and I can live here by myself without feeling it is too 
large for the cozy comfort of a quiet life,"' 



A SKETCH OF OLD LTICA. 19 

Perhaps the most brilhant array of (hstin^uished people met 
him at the re-union of the Army of the Cumberland in 1H75, 
when General Grant. General Sherman, General Hooker were 
all guests of Senator Conkling, who kept open house during the 
days of their visit. A military parade was followed by a brilliant 
meeting in the Opera House, where soldier after soldier was called 
upon for a speech, and greeted with rounds of applause. When 
the heroes entered the house and took their seats on the stage, the 
whole audience rose, and a deafening cheer upon cheer arose that 
shook the very walls. Everyone cheered — ladies and all — 
without half knowing what they were doing. "Why-have I lost 
my voice so suddenly," said one lady to another after the turmoil 
had subsided. " Because you were cheering with the others." 
"I never knew I had opened my lips," was the reply, " but \fclt 
it." 

.Nicholas E. Kernan purchased the place in 1894, and in the 
possession of his family there need be no fear that the hospitable 
traditions of the past will ever die out. On the contrary, the 
tire on the hearth will still burn brightly, and the friends of 
three and four generations will still feel that Miller's Seat or 
Rutger place is theirs to enjoy, and to receive the cordial wel- 
come as in days of old. 

THE BIG FIREPLACE. 

If I were asked to give the ruling motif of Utica's old houses, 
I should say it was the fireplace, and the dominant chord would 
be the cord of wood. The woodshed took up an important share 
of the yard, and with its pile upon pile of beautiful maple and 
birch and beech wood in all stages of dryness, and the odor of 
pine from the kindling-wood corners, it was a delightful spot. 
These large houses were rarely warm except immedfately in front 
of the fireplaces. Large folding screens were drawn about them 
to cut off the drafts, and as the weather grew colder the circle 



20 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 



grew closer and smaller. Of welcome and hospitality there 
was no lack, and wood was piled up high to greet the newly ar- 
rived guest. The furniture for these large rooms was corres- 
pondingly large and massive. The mahogany sofas and side- 
boards are the despair of those who try to move them into more 
modern houses. The high mantelpieces were adorned with sil- 
ver candlesticks and candelabra, and those fortunate enough to 
have friends connected with the India trade could have Indian 
vases, but these were rare. Girandoles graced the walls. The 
handsomest had eagles holding arrows, and balls or chains. In 
the large book cases we shall find many tomes of the sermons 
our forefathers so delighted to collect, and to read, too, as we 
find many of them marked and interlined. Baxter, Jeremy 
Taylor, Blair, Paley, Bunyan make a goodly show, and for 
poetry did they not commit whole volumes of Scott, Moore, 
Burns, Cowper, Byron, etc., to memory in a manner to fill us 
with envy at their aptness in (luotation .•* Dickens and Thack- 
eray were not, but Waverly was upsetting both Europe and Amer- 
ica, and people could scarcely wait for the next novel to appear. 




Magazines were scarcely known, and the newspapers were i^w 
and far between. Letters from absent friends came only 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 



21 



seldom as the formidable posta^^e of i8 cents to 30 cents pre- 
cluded very active correspondence. Pianos were highly prized, 
and Utica could boast of two or three prolicient [flayers on the 
harp. Mrs. James Madison Weed, and Miss Sarah Miller and Miss 
Evarts among others. The Battle of Prague, a descriptive piece 
of music for the piano, was a test of skill and proficiency. Songs 
were of a rather distressingly sentimental type, more descriptive 
of lovers' woes and sighs than of joy or happiness, and the love 
lorn swain or damsel found far more favor with the musical 
world than the commonplace, happy lover. In fact, to die for 
love seemed to be the acme of happiness in these ballads. 



LIFE OF THE TIME. 

The description above giv- 
en applies to all these old 
homes. Such were the 
houses of the Varicks, the 
Devereux, Manns, Williams, 
Seymours, D o o 1 i 1 1 1 e s , 
Camps, Ostroms, Harts, 
Hubbards, Denios, Bacons, 
Kirklands, Kips, Lothrops, 
Johnsons, Beardsleys, Hunts, 
Greens, and many others, 
all surrounded with beautiful 
gardens for pleasure and use. 
Markets there were none, 
and every one raised his own fresh vegetables and fruits. En- 
tertainments were frequent, and while handsome mahog- 
any, silver and china, and fine naper}^ made the tables ele- 
gant, the simplicity of the dinners would, I fear, scarcely 
satisfy the club man of the }ear 1895, bat for excellence of the 
viands thev hold their own bravelv. A dinner consisted of a 




MKS. NICHOLAS DKVEREUX, CH.A NCKl.l.OK 
S()UARK. 



22 A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

rich soup ; a calf's head was a great favorite, then two joints of 
meat, a "roast and a boil," ^^'ith vegetables served at the same 
time, or a saddle of mutton and haunch of venison on a lordly 
dish, the size of a small table. A ham soaked in champagne 
was a dish to set before a king, and a spiced round of beef, with 
a dash of sherry, was a most popular dish. The desserts were 
simple, but how good and tempting ! Calves' foot jellv, served 
in glasses, mounted on a high epergne, was the ta\'orite centre 
piece. Whipped cream, custard, baked in India blue cups 
with the covers on, floating island, alternated with the richer 
mince pies and plum puddings A second course was a great 
anxiety to provide with so limited a market ; but when that was 
accomplished the housekeeper's cares were over. The word 
" menu," and its ten to fourteen courses made up of airy noth- 
ings, were both happily unknown. For wine, ample provision 
was made in the bins of the attic and the vaults of the cellar. 
Port, sherr}' and madeira, that had taken a voyage around the 
Cape to ripen, were the favorite brands, and not to offer a friend 
a glass of wine and a bit of sponge cake was an incivility. Egg- 
nogg parties were very popular, when the entire company ad- 
journed to the dining-room, beat the eggs and mixed the ingredi- 
ents to taste. When finished, the nogg was poured foaming 
into pitchers or served from a punch bowl with a ladle. Oysters 
were a rarity, and when a barrel of them was brought up, every 
one gave a supper party to celebrate the event. For evening- 
parties, ices, cake, coffee and chicken salad were the usual 
viands, which were very often handed about on trays. 

PETER FREEMAN. 

Many of us will recall the tall figure of Peter Freeman, a col- 
ored waiter, who had known Utica society for many years, dart- 
ing in and out between the dancers with skill and quickness, for 
to have run up against any one or to have dropped a spoon, 



A SKETCH OF OLD CT/CA. 23 

would have dealt a blow to his professional pride. Peter, like 
most of his race, was aristocratic, and took deeply to heart the 
passing- awa}- or the stepping down and out of his old families 
and the up-rising of others not so worthy in his estimation. 
" Sassiety ain't what it used to be" was his frequent complaint, 
and he lost his interest in many of the jiartics. and, probably, 
from the nature of his remarks his valuable services v\ere not as 
much in demand as formerly. At his last appearance at a party 
at Mr. Edmund A. Wetmore's, the heart of Peter revived. Many 
of his old patrons were present, and he sailed into the parlor 
with his tray of glasses, greeting all with a cordial welcome, and 
saluting one lady, for whom he had a great regard, with "Come 

in, come in. Mrs. . This is a real select, genteel party, and 

none of our sudden rich ain't here — not one of em." 

THE GARDENS OF UTICA. 

The old gardens of Utica were a very marked feature of the 
place. The shrubs and trees and plants had each a distinct 
value and individuality as the gifts and remembrances between 
friends and neighbors. There were no florists in those days to 
send out their finely illustrated catalogs — and plants were given 
in exchange between neighbors and thus were spread far and 
near. The Erie canal was turned from the course originally 
planned, to avoid the destruction of the beautiful garden and 
grounds belonging to Mr. James Kip on Broadway — probably the 
finest place then existing in Utica. Great was the anxiety of 
Mrs. Morris Miller that Mr. Henry Seymour, then Canal Com- 
missioner, should not by the digging of his "big ditch" injure 
her favorite roses and fraxinellas which she had brought up from 
her father, Rutger Bleecker's old garden, on Market street, 
Albany. The Kip-Miller place on Main street was surrounded 
by a large garden which ran as far as Catherine street and was 
of course ruined bv the canal. 



24 



A SKETCH OF 07. D UTICA. 



The oKl tiino i^anU'u walks were bordered with the tragrant 
purple and white fraxinellas, spireas, veh'et roses, cabbage roses, 
sweet briar. spic\- shrub, white snow balls, lemon lilies, Canter- 
bury lu'lis, ludas Tree, peonies in great glory, four o'clocks, pinks, 
IMuiiJe and white lilacs, laburnani, barberrys, lilacs, mignonette, 
sweet la\ender, Jerusalem oak. etc. . .vhile the flowering bulbs 
made the garden gay from early spring to late in autumn. 
" \\diene\er I found a speciallx" hue garden in Cdinton. "said Mrs. 
George \\'o(,)d, " 1 found the plants had originally come from 
Mrs. Henry Seymour's garden in Utica." An\- one who would 
take a roc^t or cutting and make it grow, was sure to hud favor 
in her eves. The plants thus exchanged between friends assumed 
an almost personal individuality and were valued accordingly, 
while tlu' gaidens so carefully cultivated made a pleasant and 
attract i\-e en\ironment of the cpiaint okl houses, 
josiii'ii KiRKi..\xn uorsi-:. 

Probably owe o{ the oldest 
houses in the cit\" is the one 
on (jenesee street, bmlt h\ 
Watts Sherman, who came 
here to li\e in iSo2, ami as 
he was prosperous in his af- 
fairs it is probable he built 
this mt)st attractive house, 
with its beautiful garden, not 
many years afterwards. It 
consisted originally of the 
main building and south 

KIKKl AM) (IK UKUH.KV HciCSK. W i U "' 

When Cieneral Joseph Kirkland purchaseil it and removed here 
with his family from New Hartford, he added the handsome well- 
proportioned room on the north side, and added the third stor\-. 
Mr. Kirkland was the first mayor of the city of Utica, and dis- 
tinguished himself in that capacity as well as in all other walks 




.•f SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 



'25 



of life. During tlie terrible cholera year, when sixty years of 
age, he maintained his post, remained in the city which was de- 
serted by so many, and was untiring in brave efforts to stem the 
tide of this dreaded plague, and to give courage to the terrified 
inhabitants. Within these walls was reared a family of twelve 
children, ten of whom lived to manhood and womanhood. Of 
the sons, Charles P. Kirkhuid was a noted lawyer in New York, 
and a leading member of the Oneida County Bar, William 
Kirkland, a professor of Latin in Hamilton College, while among 
his sons-in-law were Judge William J. Bacon, of Utica, John G. 
Floyd, Charles Tracy, of New York, John G. Holly, of Lyons. 
The house was afterwards purchased by Judge Philo Gridley. 
and remained in the possession of his family until 1882, when 
Dr. Willis E. Ford purchased the house and part of the lot. 
Stephen Sicard, the judge's son-in-law, reserving part of the lot 
and building a handsome house on the northern side. Its large, 
well proportioned hall and generous sized parlors have always 
made it one of Utica's most attractive houses. 





KIRKI..AM) HOl^SE IWKI.OR. 



KIKKI.AND HOUSE UIMNG-ROUM . 



[udge Apollos Cooper was one of the enterprising pioneers of 
4 



2^ 



.1 Sk'E'lCII OF OLD VnCA. 



central New York, and settled in what is now Oneida count}" in 
1793, as we hear of him as leaving his birthplace in Southamp- 
ton, L. I., and "poling" up the Mohawk and Fish creek in 
that \-ear, but in 1794 he came to Fort Schuyler. He was 
judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and held many offices of 
public trust. In an address delivered before the Historical So- 
ciety in (Jtica a short time ago, by one of the most eminent 
lawyers of New York cit\', and a former resident of Utica, this 
sentiment was expressed : "Of the men who one hundred years 
ago, in 1794, came from the east and drove their stakes at old 
Fort Schuyler, there was one among them — Apollos Cooper — 
whose influence through himself and his posterity has been 
sovereign all through your history, and even to the preser.t day 
is benignly felt. To Judge Apollos Cooper we owe the life and 
fame of one of the brilliant lawyers for whom Utica has been re- 
nowned." Mrs E. A. Gra- 
ham, the only daughter of 
Judge Cooper, still survives, 
and is believed to -be the 
oldest native born resident 
of Utica. From early youth 
she was one of the chief pro- 
moters of that noble charity, 
the Utica Orphan Asylum, 
and for nearly fifty years its 
first directress, resigning that 
position but a few years 
since. Judge Apollos Cooper 
was the lineal descendant of John Cooper, who sailed in the Hope- 
well for America in 1635. He first went to Lynn, and was made a 
"freeman " of Boston in 1636. He soon removed to Southamp- 
ton, L. I., and was one of the twenty heads of families who 
formed the Association for the Settlers of Southampton in 1637. 




APoi.i.os cooper's residence. 



J SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 27 

Southampton was the first town settled hy the Enghsh in the 
state of New York. This ancestor was also one of the founders 
of the New England states. Judge Apollos Cooper purchased 
in 1794, 115 acres of land from James S. Kip, being a part of 
Cosby's Manor. A small house was on the land, but Mr. Cooper 
added to it, and the house which is still standing on Whitesboro 
street near its junction with Liberty, presents as to the building 
the same appearance as when Judge Cooper resided there, 
which he continued to do until his death in 1839. It was never 
as pretentious as many others, but ])artook something of the 
stern simplicity of its puritan founder. The old orchard which 
surrounded the house until cjuite recently has now disappeared, 
but for many years, in its tims of flower and fruitage, it was a 
thing of beauty as well as a landmark. The Cooper farm ex- 
tended from the river on the north to Genesee street at its junc- 
tion with Cornelia on the southeast, which street Mr. Cooper 
named for his only daughter. The Cooper farm covered most 
<^f the city now comprised in the third ward. 

BROAD STREET OF LOXC, A(;0. 

A gentlewoman of the olden school, a native (^f L'tica,and lung 
a resident of the city, has written the following reminiscences. 
Of the circle that clustered around Broad street forty or fifty 
years ago there is no better representati\-e to be found among 
the living than in the gracious personality of the writer of these 
recollections. Mrs. E. T. Throop Martin, oi Willow l-5rook, 
Auburn, N. Y. : 

In the early settlement of Utica, Broad street was a desirable 
place of residence. Many of the lots on which dwelling houses 
were erected belonged to the cstati" of Mr. l>leecker of Albany, 
and were a })art of the inheritance of iiis daughter, Mrs. Maria 
Miller, from whom the pin-chasers dcri\e(i their title. 

Broad street was not great in extent, but its width was gen- 
erousl}- planned. The dwelling houses erected both o:; the 



28 A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

north and south side were built to suit the convenience of their 
owners. A few of them were stately and commodious, yet 
modest in external decoration, while others were suited to the 
requirements of families with moderate means of living. These 
families included many of the distinguished citizens of the State, 
and any lack of adornment in the externals of their homes was 
made up in the quality of the inmates. 

Among these early and honored residents were Judge Jonas 
Piatt, Abraham Varick, Richard Lansing, Rev. Henry Anthon, 
Hon. Ezekiel Bacon, Thomas H. Hubbard, John H. Ostrom, 
Zephania Piatt, William Williams, John C. Devereux, Samuel 
Stocking, James H. Hackett, Alfred Van Santvoord, Joab Staf- 
ford, James Dana, John H. Ostrom, Ebenezer Shearman and 
Orrin Clark ; while at a later day among the residents of Broad 
street were Hon. Hiram Denio, Bleecker B. Lansing, Thomas 
R. Walker, Thomas Skinner, Abram Shepard, Elizur Goodrich, 
Henry White, Harvey Barnard, Theodore P. Ballou, Joseph 
Porter, Charles A. Mann, Truman K. Butler, George Dana, 
John Francis, Ezra Barnum, A. G. Dauby, Samuel Lightbody, 
and John Williams. 

As the century draws to its close, with loving reverence for 
those who once walked our streets and in their departure left 
to us the memory of their good examples, we would recall their 
honored names and clear away the moss from the memorial 
stones which record their virtues. On each monument might 
be engraven the tribute paid to one of them: "The noblest 
work of God — an honest man." 

There were no defaulters among them. Not one \\'\\o proved 
faithless to any trust reposed in him ; not one who sought his 
own aggrandizement at the expense of his neighbor, or who 
filled to overflowing his own coffers regardless of the interests 
of those around him. "Weighed in the balance," those early 



J SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 29 

dwellers in Broad street were not " found wantin^:^" in the (jual- 
ities which constitute the good citizens. 

Among the most conspicuous of the descendants of the resi- 
dents of Broad street 70 years ago, are the sons of Col. William 
Williams and James Dana, whose names are honored through- 
out the civilized world. 

Wherever the Chinese language is spoken or studied or the 
history of the "Flowery Kingdom" is read, the name of Samuel 
Wells Williams is known ; while the mineral kingdom and his 
exponents and the coral beds of the sea, which long hid the 
secret of their history from the world, now bear testimony to 
the power and skill of the great geologist to unfold the mystery 
of their construction. Other sons of these families have cut 
their names high on the tree which they have climbed to fame. 
Many more of the occupants of the dwellings in Broad street 
deserve honorable mention and we regret that the limited space 
allotted to this brief "looking backward " will not admit of the 
tribute justly due to those who have given dignity and renown 
to our city. 

These sons did not grow into a noble manhood without the 
training hand of the gifted and watchful mother, and this may 
also be said of the daughters of that period, many of whom still 
adorn every circle in which they move, distinguished by their 
intelligence, refinement and high-breeding as well as by their 
large benevolence and retiring modesty. No doubt these char- 
acteristics were the result of a combined effort on the part of 
the mothers, by precept and example and careful training, to 
cultivate in their daughters all the virtues and graces which con- 
stitute the highest type of womanhood. It was their custom, 
on the first entrance of their daughters into society, to give them 
careful instruction in all the amenities of social life, impressing 
them with what is due from the younger ladies to their elders 
and remindmg them before engaging in the entertainments of 



30 ^4 SKETCH OF OJ.D UTICA. 

the evening to pay due respect to all the elderly ladies of the 
company. 

The men and women, who, at an early day, composed the 
society of Utica, set up a high standard of morals and manners. 
Virtue was exalted and vice frowned upon, and truth and sin- 
cerity and uprightness in conduct were earnestly if not severely 
inculcated. What wonder, then, that twice the State of New 
York selected from this community its first executive officer and 
that later, the two senators representing the Empire State in 
Congress at the same time, should chance to be both residents 
of Utica } 

THE MALCOLM HOUSE. 

On upper Genesee street stands a house, now occupied by 
Egbert Bagg, whose early occupants belonged to the Revolution- 
ary families of Gen. Schuyler and Gen. Malcolm. Samuel 
Bayard Malcolm was educated for the law, but his occupation 
was solely in looking after his wife's estates in Cosby 's Manor. 
He had married Cornelia Van Rensselaer Schuyler, the youngest 
daughter of Philip Schuyler, of Albany, much against the wishes 
of her father, and the youthful pair lived in much state and ex- 
travagance on this place. The daughter of one of our greatest 
generals, she was closelv allied by ties of blood to the families 
of Van Rensselaer and Van Cortland, while her older sister was 
the wife of Alexander Hamilton. Sad and pathetic was her life ; 
the rich heiress became in a short time reduced to almost pover- 
ty and, in 1 8 1 5, after the death of her husband, this place or farm 
of 120 acres was ad\ertised for sale. 

Mrs. Malcolm afterwards married James Cochran and remcned 
to Oswego, where many years later, and when a widow for the 
second time, she became postmistress in the same place where 
she had gone as a }Oung girl with her father in 1 794, and shared 
in the adventures of that difiicult and romantic expedition. She 
lived to the age of y6 and died in Oswego, its oldest, as she had 



.7 SKE'lXfl (>/■' OLD (TIC A. 



been one ot its ver} earliest inhabitants, honored and beloved by 
all, for her lovely traits of character, her patience and courage 
in adversity, and for her many intellectual gifts. 

"We never drove past this house" writes Doctor Anson [. 
Upson, "that my mother did not delight in telling me all about 
her earh- friends, Rose and Sarah Malcolm," 



-<^' 









r^**-' f'l*:^ 



lllli JOHNSON llorSE. 

One of the few old houses 
that remain to us untouched 
by the hand of time is the 
somewhat oddly-constructed 
wooden house on Genesee 
street, built by John H. Lo- 
throp in 1809, and occupied 
by him until 181 i. Mrs. 
Clinton, afterwards Mrs. 
Abram Varick, lived in it for 
a few years when it passed 
into the hands of Alexander 
THE JOHNSON HousK. g Johnsou, aud is stiU in 

the possession of the family. Surrounded by its beautiful gar- 
den with its famous pink thorn trees, rare roses and flowering 
shrubs of all descriptions, the house is still one of the most 
striking of our old residences. It stands well up from the street 
on a terrace, its deep stone steps guarded by two frowning lions, 
which were always objects of terror to youthful minds. Mr. 
Johnson was known all through the State as an able banker and 
a man of rare intellectual gifts and attainments. His marriage 
with the daughter of Charles Adams and the granddaughter of 
President John Adams brought a delightful circle of friends into 
his home life, while his high standing as a banker and financier 
brought him into close intercourse with the leading men of the 
times. 



32 ^4 SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

RECEPTION TO LA FAYETTE. 

On the morning of June 9, 1825, all the village of Utica was 
a gay scene of festive activity to honor the nation's guest, the 
Marquis and General La Fayette. Arches were raised, houses 
were gaily decorated with flowers and flags, processions were 
formed, crowds of people from the surrounding country and vil- 
lages filled the streets. The road leading to the west was changed 
from Rome street to La Fayette. While a general reception 
and grand review of the troops was held at Shephard's or Bagg's 
Hotel, a more private reception was held at the Johnson House. 
The Marquis hearing that the granddaughter of his friend John 
Adams, whom he had known so well in former days, was living 
in Utica, requested leave to pay his respects in person, and the 
ladies of the village were invited to come and be presented to 
him. 

In this little village of Utica La Fayette was to find many army 
friends and their descendants, although so remote from any of 
the scenes of war. At Oriskany was Col. Lansing, who had been 
at Yorktown, and Gen. Knox, both of whom rode as his escort 
in the procession, while Mrs. Henry Seymour represented her 
father. Gen. Jonathan Forman, who had served at Valley Forge 
and Yorktown with La Fayette, and there were doubtless many 
others. ' ' I was a young school girl at the time, "' says her daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Rutger B. Miller, "and when my mother wished to 
take me with her to Mrs. Johnson's to be introduced to La Fay- 
ette, I foolishly thought it would be far more interesting to see 
the procession from the top of a building in Genesee street with 
Mary Kip, afterwards Mrs. Charles P. Kirkland, than to go to the 
reception, and how often have I most deeply regretted my deci- 
sion. My mother was much overcome at seeing the general and 
could scarcely command her voice to ask him if he remembered 
her father, but he instantly recalled him as having been one of 
his lieutenants at Valley Forge." 



./ SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 33 

Charles D. Miller, of Geneva, N. Y. , writes in reference to 
this visit : " Brother Rutger took all of his little brothers and 
introduced us to the general at Bagg's hotel. We shook hands 
with him. He was tall, distinguished, gentlemanly and hand- 
some. Pictures of him were extensively sold and adorned many 
houses. Later on in the day our old waiter, Jimmy Lang, took 
me, I was about six years old, to the canal bridge at Third 
street, under which the boat carrying the general and his staff 
was to pass. I sat on the railing, and at the right minute I 
poured a basket of flowers from our old Main street garden over 
his head. He picked up some of them, stuck two or three in his 
button hole, and looked up with a smile of thanks. Jimmy and 
I were as proud as though we had been the marquis himself. 
Captain William J. Clarke's horses were the handsomest 
horses in Utica at that time, so they were harnessed to Mrs. 
Henry Seymour's barouche, which had been painted and var- 
nished for the occasion, and was placed at the service of the gen- 
eral. The driver was a black man, your grandfather Seymour's 
coachman, whose name I do not recall, although he has been to 
see rne, and his daughter lives here in Geneva. This carriage 
was the one General Forman had brought up from New Jersey 
when they came to settle in Cazenovia, and was the first thing 
of the kind to go over these rough corduroy roads. We used it 
afterwards on the " Hill." I used to drive your Grandmother 
Miller down to the Dutch church. It was hung very high, and 
the carpeted steps let down like a step-ladder." 

In a memoir of the late Mrs. Thomas R. Walker is also an in- 
teresting account of the reception at the Johnson house for La 
Fayette, where a collation was served and a few distinguished 
people assembled. The marquis exchanged pleasant greetings 
with his friends, and afterwards went into the house of Arthur 
Breeze, directly next to the Johnson place. He also went to 
the house of Captain Clarke, then president of the village, and 

S 



34 



A SKElVn OF OLD UTICA. 



whose house stood on Genesee street where the Second National 
bank has since been built. His son, Thomas Allen Clarke, 
then a little boy, was lifted up to be kissed by the general, and 
was a proud and happy boy forever after. Probably never again 
will Utica have the opportunity to give such a greeting to a man 
so distinguished in Europe and America, and whose history reads 
like a romance, blended with the stern realities of two revo- 
lutions — the most fearful struggles for life and libertw 

At the eastern end of Broad street stands a house far surpass- 
ing any other in Utica, for its association with the revolutionary 
hero. Colonel Benjamin Walker. It was known for many years 
as the Colonel Walker place, but is more familiar to those of 
the present day as the Wager place and the Culver place. 
Colonel Benjamin Walker, an Englishman by birth, was edu- 
cated in France, and from his knowledge of the French lan- 
guage was appointed aide tf) Baron Von Steuben at Valley Forge 

in 1/77, and translated his 
orders to our American sol- 
diers. He was afterwards 
on Washington's staff, and 
served with distinction all 
through the war. He and 
Colonel North became part 
of Von Steuben's family, 
and at the baron's death be- 
came his heirs. In 1797 
Colonel Walker was ap- 
pointed agent for the estate 
of Lady Bath, in the west- 
ern part of New York state. 
cui.vEK-coi.uNKi. WALKKR pi.ACK. wliicli Icd hiui to rcmovc 

from the city of New York to the village of Utica, where belaid 
out the beautiful grounds and built the ample house which stil] 







.-/ sKErcii (>/'■ oil) uricA. 35 

stands as a monument of his good taste and cultivation. Here 
he lived in much state and elegance, with his three slaves for 
house servants, besides the men employed on the place. His 
coach is said to have been the first one ever used in Utica, and 
he always exercised a most genial hospitality, while his interest 
in the general welfare of the little village was unceasing. He 
was one of the earliest founders and pew holders of old Trinit\- 
church, securing for the corporation a gift of land from Lad\- 
Bath and subscribing liberally himself. He was always present 
in his pew at church, which was generally full, for he was rarely 
without guests, whose attendance at church in the morning was 
as much a matter of course as the Sunday dinner in the after- 
noon and the game of whist in the evening. 

The grounds surrounding his house were laid out with much 
taste, and the two beautiful pepperidge trees in front of his 
house were marked features of the lawn, and grew to a large 
size. They were planted by the colonel himself, as were also 
the large pines at the rear of the house, and the hawthorne hedge 
which surrounded the entire place. The cheerful white wooden 
house, with its handsome hall and spacious rooms, is familiar to 
many of our citizens, and the hospitality that was built into its 
walls originally, never failed to offer a welcome and cheer to all 
comers when occupied by its successive owners, the Bours. the 
Sewards, the Wagers, and the Culvers. 

The house was sold to his son-in-law, Peter Bours, who built 
the house on Broad street, afterward occupied by the families of 
Mr. Varick, Mrs. Breeze, Mrs. George S. Dana, G. Clarence 
Churchill, and Truman K. Butler. After the latter's brief occu- 
pancy the Walker house was used as a school by Madame Des- 
pard, and was muchnfrequented by the incipient belles of the 
village. Among the list of scholars we find the names of Frances 
Hunt, (Mrs. George H. Throop), Frances Lothrop (Mrs. Lathrop), 
Jane Lynch, Mary Kip (Mrs. Charles P. Kirkland), Mary Sey- 



36 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 



inour (Mrs. Rutger B. Miller), Sophia Seymour (Mrs. Edward 
F. Shonnard), and many others. 

The beaux of the village were not slow in finding out that the 
walk out Broad street was one of the pleasantest in town, and 
one of the wits of the day, John H. Lothrop, is said to have 
asked if the old Walker place was not a genteel institute for 
young gentlemen as well as a ladies' seminary. 

The last occupant of this famous house was Abram E. Cul- 
ver, who purchased it in 1856 and resided there until his death 
in 1885. The house and grounds remained practically un- 
changed with the exception of throwing two rooms into one 

and extending the piazzas. 

The accompanying picture 

called Solitude represents the 
snowy owl shot there in the 
winter of 1882 by Mr. Culver, 
and which is still in the pos- 
session of the family. Very 
beautifully does this sketch, 
drawn by Miss Culver, express 
the silence and solitude which 
has covered with a mantle this 
old place, once so filled with 
life and interest. 

At Colonel Walker's death in 
" sui.nuDK." 1 81 8 Abram Varick, Nathan 

Williams and Judge Morris S. Miller were named as executors of 
his will, and in the letter book of the latter are many interesting 
letters written to announce the death of his friend. To the 
nephew of Mrs. Walker, Mr. William H. Robinson, of New 
York, he writes : "In the death of Colonel Walker, his imme- 
diate friends and connections have met a severe and irreparable 
loss. The public calamity is sensibly felt here. For myself I 
have lost one of mv oldest and most steadfast friends to whose 




A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. Z't 

experience and good counsels I have been much indebted for many 
years past. He was a man of the most enlarged and active be- 
nevolence I ever saw." 

Colonel Walker died in i8i(S. In June, 1875, his remains, 
with those of Dr. John Cochrane, were removed from the old 
cemetery on Whitesboro street to Forest Hill. The following 
account taken from the Utica Herald gives the interesting de- 
tails of this impressive military and religious ceremony, while the 
letter from Rutger B. Miller gives the personal recollections of 
one who as a boy had seen and admired these heroes of bygone days. 




38 --i SA'ElXy/ O/- OLD UT/CA. 

MRS. DESPARD'S 



FOR THE 

p:ducatiox op young ladies. 



TERJfiS. 

Board, auth English Tuition, $37 50 per Quarter. 
Washing, an additional charge. 

Tl/ITIOJW 

English in all its Branches, Writing, Arithmetic, ? Jtin aq 

and Plain Sewing ^ 

French, 8 00 

Instruction and use of Globes , . 1 25 

Pine Needle-Wori^, 4 00 

Tambour, 2 00 

St tioiiary, including Pens, Ink, &c 1 50 

Puel per Annum, 1 00 

Entrance, $2. 

PAYABLE QUARTERLY IN ADVANCE. 
...®®0... 

Velvet Painting, taught in the most approved manner. 
Proper Masters for Mubic, Drawing, and Dancing, will he en- 
gaged, when a sufficient number of pupils can be obtained. 
Each Younff Lady to piovide her own Bed, Bedding, 
Towels, Table and Tea Spoons. 



Utiea, Nov. 26, 1822. 



Wm, Williarns, Printer. 



[From Utica Morninj^ Herald June 14, 1875.] 

HONORS TO THE DEAD. 



OUR REVOLUTIONARY HEROES. 



Transfer of the Remains of Col. Walker and Medical Director Cochran to 
Forest Hill Cemetery— An Imposing Pageant— Distinguished Participants- 
Interesting Exercises— Address by Hon. Erastus Clark— Reminiscences of the 
Departed — Left in Repose on Summit View, June 14, 1875- 

The centennial anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, will 
be remembered by Uticans for a long time on account of the pe- 
culiarly interesting ceremonial that occurred upon that day, with- 
in our city, which was directly connected with the revolutionary 
war. In accordance with the arrangements heretofore announced, 
the remains of Col. Benjamin Walker and Medical Director John 
Cochran, men who took an active part in the revolution, with 
those of their wives, were translerred from the old burying- 
ground on Water street, to Forest Hill Cemetery, under the aus- 
pices and direction of the Cemetery Association and the relatives 
of the deceased. 

THE PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS 

were in charge of Hon. William J. Bacon, president of the asso- 
ciation, Dr. M. M. Bagg and John F. Seymour, Esq., the com- 
mittee appointed for this purpose. In perfecting the details, 
these gentlemen were ably assisted by Undertaker Douglass. 
The admirable arrangement of the ceremonial, in every respect, 



40 --^ SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

was creditable to that gentleman in the highest degree. As an- 
nounced yesterday, the remains were disinterred on Wednesday, 
put into neat caskets and placed in Mr. Douglass' parlors, on 
Broad street. The apartments were appropriately draped with 
American flags and the caskets were covered with the national 
colors. The plates found with the remains of Colonel Walker 
and wife have been described. Dr. Cochran's casket was marked 
with a plate bearing the following inscription, copied in part from 
the tablet over his grave : 

Dr. John Cochran, 

Died April, 1807, 
In the 77th year of his age. 

Gertrude Cochran, 
his wife, 

Died March, 181 3, 
In the 89th year of her age. 
At 1:30 p. M. General Dering and staff reported at the place 
of assembling, and at 2 P. M. there was quite a gathering of dis- 
tinguished oificials and citizens, clergymen and members of the 
medical profession. General John Cochrane, grandson of Dr. 
Cochran, his sister, Mrs. Ellen Walter, eldest daughter of Walter 
L. Cochran, and her daughter, Miss Gertrude Walter, arrived in 
this city yesterday morning. They sat at the head of the re- 
mains of their relatives, and were introduced to the pall-bearers 
and other gentlemen present by Dr. Bagg. Among the officials 
in attendance was Col. Villanueva, comptroller of the Spanish 
Ordnance Commission, in full uniform and wearing a number of 
decorations of honor. The military companies arrived with 
commendable promptness, took their line on Broad street, un- 
der the direction of Major Peattie. 

MILITARY HONORS. 

A little after 2 P. M., the Old Utica Band struck up a dirge, 
and the caskets were borne from the undertaking rooms b}' mom- 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 41 

bers of the staffs of the Utica Citizens' Corps and the Adjutant 
Bacon Cadets, alonj^ the line to the left and returned to the 
hearses at the right. These vehicles were decorated with plumes, 
and each was drawn by four handsome gray horses. As the re- 
mains of the heroes passed the line, citizens uncovered their 
heads, the colors were dipped and the military presented arms. 
A vast crowd was congregated about the spot, and all seemed 
impressed with the solemnity of the scene. 

THE PALL-BEAREKS. 

The gentlemen selected to act as pall-bearers, represented the 
most venerable and prominent citizens of Utica, representatives 
of a chain in the history of our city that is fast losing its links. 
Following are their names : 

A. G. Dauby, Ezra S. Barnum, 

J. E. Warner, |. C. DeLong, 

Harry Camp, Theo. S. Faxton, 

James Sayre, Martin Hart, 

George Hopper, Alrick Hubbell. 

J. A. Shearman, John Stevens, 

David Lewis, Owen O'Neil. 

THE PAGEANT. 

About 2:30 P. M., the procession moved up Genesee street in 

the following order: 

Police. 

General Dering and Staff. 

Colonel Young and Staff. 

Regimental Band. 

Major Peattie and Staff. 

Utica Veteran Zouaves. 

Utica Dering Guards. 

Utica Fire Zouaves. 

6 



42 ^ SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

Old Utica Band. 
Colonel Davies and Staff. 
Hearse containing the remains of Colonel Walker. 

Utica Citizens' Corps as Guard of Honor. 

Hearse containing the remains of Surgeon Cochran. 

Adjutant Bacon Cadets as Guard of Honor. 

Officiating Clergymen and Speakers. 

Pall Bearers. 

General John Cochran and other relatives of the deceased. 

President Bacon, Dr. M. M. Bagg and John F. Seymour, 

Committee. 
Forest Hill Cemetery Association. 
Senators and Members of the Judicial Corps. 
Colonel Villanueva, of Spanish Ordnance Commission. 
President Gray and members of the Medical Association. 
Common Council. 
Police and Fire Commissioners. 
Representatives of the Press. 
Citizens in Carriages. 
The military marched with reversed arms, the bands playing 
dirges. The Corps and Cadets formed hollow squares surround- 
ing the remains, the color bearers of each following the hearse. 
The ranks of the companies were full, and the display in every 
respect was one of the most solemn and imposing that has ever 
been seen in Utica. 

ALONC; THE LINE. 

All the iiags of the city were placed at half-mast after noon, 
and many business houses and residences were draped with the 
national colors. The pageant attracted a large number of per- 
sons. Three sections of police led the procession, freeing the 
street of vehicles and other obstructions. At Oneida Square the 
military took the cars and rode to Prospect street, where the 
line was reformed and marched to Forest Hill. 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 43 

AT THE CEMETERY. 

There was a goodly number of persons at the cemetery in ad- 
vance of the procession. The grounds were in beautiful order 
and the coolness of the day tempted many people to visit them. 
The site of the new resting-place of the heroes' remains is in the 
new addition, the highest point, at a s{)ot that might appropri- 
ately be called 

SUMMIT viicw. 

It commands a magnificent panoramic view of the most de- 
lightful scenery upon all sides. No more lovely spot can be 
imagined. The ground is high and at the depth of two feet, 
the graves were cut into a solid bed of slate. While the proces- 
sion was slowly winding its way up the main avenue to the graves, 
our reporter had an opportunity of examining the original tablet 
and tomb-stones that marked the first resting-places of the dead. 

THE TABLETS. 

The tablet over the grave of Surgeon Cochran and wife is a 
large fiat slab of sandstone. It rested upon a foundation of 
brick, and bore the following inscription : 
Here lie the Bodies 

of 

Dr. John Cochran, 

Director General of the Military Hospitals of the United States 

in the Revolutionary War, 

And of 

Gertrude, 

His Wife. 

The former died in April, in the year 1807, in the 77th year of 

his age ; and the latter in March, in the year 1813, 

in the 89th year of her age. 

This monument is erected by their sons, James and Walter T. 

Cochran. 



44 A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

The headstones over Col. Walker and wife are of white sand- 
stone about six feet in hight and each two in width. They bear 
the following inscriptions : 

Sacred 

To the Memory of 

Col. Benjamin Walker, 

who departed this life 

Jan. 13. i8t8, 

Aged 65 years. 

Sacred 
To the Memory of 
Mary Walker. 
Wife of 
Col. Benjamin Walker, * 

who departed this life 
June 17, 1 817, 
Aged 62 years. 
The Cochran tablet is considerably weather-worn, but only 
the last line of the inscription was indistinct. The tablets, head 
and footstones were transferred to Forest Hill, and will still 
mark the graves. The footstones bear only the names of Colonel 
and Mrs. Walker. 

It will be observed that Col. Walker's wife died just fifty-eight 
years ago yesterday, a singular coincidence. 

AN IMPRESSIVE SCENE. 

General Dering formed the military into a hollow square com- 
pletely encircling the plat about the graves, he and his staff 
taking positions opposite the platform and seats that had been 
conveniently arranged by Col. Bagg, superintendent of the cem- 
eteries. The spectators surrounded the militia. After the 
square was formed, the remains were taken from the hearses 



A SKETCH OI- OLD CTICA. 45 

and placed over the graves, Col. Walker on the north and Sur- 
geon Cochran on the south, both facing due west. 

General Cochrane stood by the graves, and the ladies of his 
party remained in their carriage on account of fatigue and ill- 
ness. The venerable pall bearers, with a larger number of aged 
residents of Utica than has ever been called together by any 
other occasion, sat in a semi-circle around the platform. The 
majority of the number have passed three score years and ten, 
and all of them are closely connected with the growth, thrift and 
prosperity of Utica. The other distinguished guests surrounded 
the semi-circle. 

THE EXERCISES. 

The ceremonies at the graves did not begin until 4:40 i'. m. 
At that time the Old Band played an appropriate dirge, and the 
caskets enclosed in cases were lowered into the new graves. 

Judge Bacon, president of the Forest Hill Cemetery Associa- 
tion, presided over the exercises. Addressing the audience he 
said : 

We are assembled here on this eventful day to pay honors to 
the remains of men who played no inconsiderable parts in the 
great struggles of the revolution. There were few more fitting 
occasions than on this, which it was proper to invoke the pres- 
ence and blessing of the Heavenly Father. 

Rev. Dr. Fovvler made a prayer appropriate to the occasion. 

President Bacon said he did not intend to anticipate the re- 
marks to be made by others, but it might be proper to say that 
the exercises of the day were in accordance with propositions 
made by the association about two years ago. Aconunittee was 
appointed to carry into effect the project. Amongthe first orig- 
inators of the idea was the late James Watson Williams. The 
details of the project had been mainly carried into operation by 
the labors of Dr. Bagg, to whom great credit is due. 



45 A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

HON. RUTGER B. MILLER's REMINISCENCES. 

President Bacon said Hon. Rutger B. Miller had prepared a 
few interesting reminiscences. That gentleman was absent from 
the city, but his response to the committee's invitation would 
be read by his and everybody's friend, John F. Seymour. 

Mr. Seymour said it was about a year ago since steps were 

commenced towards arranging for the transfer of the remains of 

the revolutionary heroes. Permission was not obtained until too 

late for last year. An unfortunate accident had prevented him 

from taking a very active part in the work, and the chief labor 

had devolved upon Dr. Bagg, to whom great credit was due. 

Among the letters received were the following, which he read : 

Elm WOOD, Boonville, June 14, 1875. 

T. F. Seymour, ( ^ •,, 

Vx nT AC -n r Committee. 

Dr. M. M. Bag(;, \ 

Gcntlcinoi : I hasten to comply with your polite attention, 
requesting me to furnish familiar details, within my recollection, 
relative to the social life of Colcnel Benjamin Walker and Dr. 
John Cochran, whose remains are to be removed from the old 
burying ground, in the city of Utica, to Forest Hill Cemetery. 

Colonel Walker built and resided in the old mansion now oc- 
cupied by Mr. Abraham E. Culver, and from my earliest boy- 
hood I remember seeing the Englishman of the olden time rid- 
ing: dailv on his old war horse, " Hector." from his residence to 
the " village," as Utica was then called. He often stopped at 
the door of our house to bid good day, and a few hours after, 
Mrs. Walker passed in her English carriage with green Venetian 
blinds, and Simon on the box looking as important as King 
Dahomey. 

Colonel Walker was eminently social and jovial in his temper- 
ament, and yet rigidly systematic and punctual in matters of 
business — uniting the characteristics of a military man with 
those of an Englishman, whether " on 'change, "or at the dinner 



.-/ SKETCH 01' OLD UTICA 47 

table, or at church. He was one of the founders of "Old Trin- 
ity," and occupied a pew near my father's, which was usually 
full, for the colonel was rarely without guests, whose attendance 
at church in the morning was as much a religious observance as 
the Sunday dinner in the afternoon and a game of whist in the 
evening. 

He adopted the son and two daughters of Mrs. Robinson, who 
was the sister of Mrs. Walker, for whom he provided with pa- 
rental care and generosity from an ample fortune left him by 
Baron Steuben, whose aide-de-camp he was during the revolu- 
tionary war. Madame Devillehaut, afterward Madame Combe, 
was his only child, to whom he left his estate by will. She 
was educated in France, and lived there except during a few 
years after the restoration of the Bourbons, when Colonel 
Combe of the Old Guard (" ^y/// w^v/r/, wcr/jy )ic sc yend pas"), 
fled to this country, and resided in the brick chateau (still 
standing on Broad street), which he built. On the accesion of 
Louis Phillipe, Colonel Combe vanished at a moment's warn- 
ing, and his wife soon followed. At the siege of Constantinc, 
Combe fell at the head of his regiment, and Madame Combe 
soon followed her hero to the grave, her property escheating to 
the state for want of heirs. 

Colonel Walker was a man of medium size, well propor- 
tioned, active, energetic ; stern in exacting from others the 
strict performance of duty, in which he never failed himself , 
with a hand open as day for melting charity, he was a strict ac- 
countant ; and rigidly economical in his expenditures while liv- 
ing generously and freely contributing to the enjoyments of social 
life and elegant hospitality, of which his house was headquarters. 
The dinner table was his natural element, surrounded by choice 
spirits like James Cochran, Walter Cochran, Kirkpatrick, Kip, 
Jeremiah and James Van Rensselaer, Brodhead, &c., all 
"glorious, o'er all the ills of life victorious." Although not a 



48 '-i SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

humorist, he enjoyed a hearty laugh, and a good story and song, 
and was long and loud in his plaudits and encores. 

THE COCHRAN FAMILY. 

I have no recollection of ever seeing Dr. John Cochran, the 
grandfather of James and John Cochran and their sisters. But 
I well remember Major James Cochran, formerly of Palatine ; 
his brother. Captain W'alter Cochran ; his wife, the daughter of 
Peter Smith, of Peterboro, and all their children. I never shall 
forget the match between Walter L. Cochran and Cor- 
nelia Smith, who came driving up to our old house, at the foot 
of Main street, in a gig and tandem, one tine day. 

Walter Cochran was one of the most polished gentlemen I 
ever saw in his social education. His after-dinner songs were 
"music's own," and I have seen a party at one time melted to 
tears, and at another roaring with laughter, as he chose to im- 
press them with grief or joy. 

Mrs. Cochran was a lady of marked character ; distinguished 
as much for her conversational power and impressive manners, 
as her brothers Peter and Gerrit for their eloquence and oratory 
in public speaking. 

The ladies of Utica loved to hear her conversation as much 
as the gentlemen loved to hear the songs of her hus- 
band. Boy as I was at this period, I loved to sit upon a bench 
in the parlor and listen to her while passing an afternoon and 
evening with my mother, whose fireside was cheered "many a 
time and oft " by the unceremonious visits of this magnificent 
lady, whose four daughters, Mrs. Walter, Mrs. Barclay, Mrs. 
Kemys, and Mrs. Biddle, still live to represent her. She had 
three sons, John, James and Peter, the two former surviving. 

The mention of their names, bringing the light of other days 
around me, reminds me of an incident, which illustrates the 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 49 

chanj^c which time has produced in men and manners j^enerally 
durinj^- the past sixty years. Walter Cochran, the father of the 
boys, was a cousin of Stephen Van Rensselaer, patroon of Al- 
bany, their mothers being sisters, of the Livingston family. 
Stephen Van Rensselaer was president of the Board of Canal 
Commissioners, who were holding a meeting at Bagg's hotel, say 
about the year 1820. After morning service, on Sunday, my 
father took me with him to pay his respects to the patroon and 
other commissioners. While in the patroon's parlor, Walter 
Cochran, with John, James and Peter, were announced and ad- 
mitted. Walter saluted the patroon in his usual graceful man- 
ner, and introduced John, James and Peter. Jesse, their negro 
boy, had washed their faces and put on a clean collar for each 
of them but he had not brushed their shoes, and preferred to send 
them barefoot rather than with dirty shoes. It was not unusual 
for boys to go barefoot in the streets of Utica at that time ; it 
was considered rather effeminate and girlish to wear shoes in 
warm weather, and the boys felt as easy without shoes as they 
would have felt with them, and perhaps easier. 

In regard to Major James Cochran, I remember dining with 
him at his residence at Palatine, on the Mohawk river, where he 
lived, a bachelor, in a spacious house. He afterwards moved to 
Utica, in very straitened circumstances. His friends here ob- 
tained for him the office of justice of the peace and notary pub- 
lic, from which he derived a scanty support. His office was on 
Broad, near Genesee street. He married his cousin, Mrs. Mal- 
com, a daughter of General Schuyler. 

Gerrit Smith induced them to go to Oswego, and after Major 
Cochran's death, Mrs. Cochran was appointed postmistress, and 
one of her sons is now living there in good business. She was 
a remarkable woman, and abounding in charity to the poor, who 
attended her funeral in large numbers. 
7 



50 '4 SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

Major Cochran once represented Montf^omery country in 
Congress, and was a very interesting and intelligent man in con- 
versation, and his society was sought for his general information 
in regard to the early history of the country, and high social cul- 
ture. 

You have asked for "familiar details," gentlemen, and I have 
given such as occur to me, off-hand and without time for re- 
flection or research. When I think of these good old times in 
Utica 

" I feel like one who treads alone, 
Some banquet hall deserted ; 
Whose lights are fled, whose garlands dead, 
And all but he departed." 

Respectfully, 

RuTGER B. Miller. 

DUST TO DUST AGAIN. 

At the conclusion of the reading, Rev. Dr. Van Deusen re- 
cited the beautiful and impressive service of the Episcopal 
church, and pronounced the benediction. 

P'INALE. 

A detachment of the Utica Veteran Zouaves, under the com- 
mand of Lieutenant Thelwin Jones, fired a volley over the graves, 
and the solemn ceremonies were at an end. 

The exercises were concluded at 6 p. m. The military 
marched to Genesee street and the street cars. The procession 
was reformed on Oneida square, and a very handsome parade 
was made down Genesee street. The line was reviewed by 
General Bering and staff in front of the Butterfield House, and 
the companies returned to their armories. The officers and 
members of the various companies deserve the thanks and com- 
pliments expressed in another column by the committee of the 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 51 

Cemetery Association. They never appeared to better advan- 
tage. 

AN OLD DOCUMENT. 

Colonel Walker at one time owned the ground upon which 
the Herald office now stands. Alexander vSeward, Esq., has 
placed in our hands well preserved articles of agreement be- 
tween Colonel Walker and Asahel Seward, made July i, 1815, 
in the village of Utica, and witnessed by Peter Bours. The 
agreement was between the makers to set aside two and a half 
feet from their lots which adjoined to form the five feet passage, 
fift}' feet in length, to the rear of the lots of the present No. 58 
and 60 Genesee street, that existed until the Herald buildings 
were remodeled. In consideration of the sum of $100, Asahel 
Sew^ard was permitted to extend his building over the whole of 
this passage from the first story upwards. The agreement 
states that both parties to it intended to build upon their re- 
spective lots at the time it was made. The premises, No. 58 
Genesee street, still belong to the Seward family. 

Hon. John Cochrane, of New York, writes the following in- 
teresting account of what may be called the Legend of Miller's 
Bridge, only unlike most legends, it is absolutely true : 

" There had come about these days to Utica the Rev. William 
Woodbridge, the father, I believe, of the author of the Wood- 
bridge geography, upon which we used to whet our youthful 
beaks, and to whom Dr. Bagg refers in his " Pioneers of Utica." 
He was a round, bulbous little man, who opened a school for 
boys and girls in Utica, and having been .the preceptor of my 
mother, he became an inmate of our house. To us youngsters 
passing under his rod he was known as Daddy Woodbridge. 
Now Daddy Woodbridge, wishing to make a visit across the 
river in Deerfield, a steady old farm horse was procured 
for him and in the morning of a leisure day he started upon his 



52 A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

trip over Miller's bridge, purposing to return the same way at 
night. In the meantime, during the day the bridge was dis- 
mantled, leaving its string pieces bare from shore to shore. 
Doctor Woodbridge returned as he had intended during the night, 
and my father first seeing him at breakfast in the morning asked 
him in surprise which way he had returned: "Oh," said he, 
"by the same way I went !" "Impossible," said my father ; 
" the bridge was dismantled yesterday." Dr. Woodbridge was 
incredulous, and still resisting the conviction of his error, it was 
proposed to go down to the bridge. Accordingly my father, my 
mother. Dr. Woodbridge, and my brother James (from whom I 
had this anecdote), went to the bridge, when seeing that his 
horse must in the dark night have borne him over the river in 
safety, unconscious of his danger, on the naked string pieces of 
the bridge, the Doctor fainted away. " 

Where the Mohawk in the good old days intersected the Cherry 
Valley Turnpike, stood the ruins of a bridge that had been built 
by Rensselaer Schuyler, a son of the Revolutionary General 
Schuvler. Its acceptance depended on the condition of the safe 
transit of a carriage as a test of its completion. One day your 
grandfather, Judge Miller, was abruptly greeted by Mr. Schuyler 
with his characteristic brusque manner, "Come, Judge, get into" 
your carriage quickly, and drive over the bridge before it falls.' 
The carriage passed over, and the bridge having been accepted, 
was afterwards known as "Miller's Bridge." 



A SKETCH or OLD UTICA. 



53 




THE DUTCH CHUKCH. 



The Holland or Dutch settlers of this country brought with 
them the strongest attachment to their national church, and we 
are not surprised to find it very firmly established in New York, 



54 A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

Albany and Kingston, and in fact wherever their settlements ex- 
isted. The Patroons of New York were required by the terms 
of their charter from the West India Company to establish a 
church for their people — who loved their liturgy, psalm and 
hymn in their own language, and did not readily assimilate with 
the English colonists. Their church records were most care- 
fully preserved, of marriages, births and deaths, and to this day 
form a valuable reference record of the early settlers. The 
origin of the Reformed Dutch church in Utica must be traced 
over the Mohawk river to Deerfield, where as early as in 1802 
Dominie Spinner, or, as he was appropriately called, "Father 
Spinner," established a Sunday school. It was taught by Dom- 
inie Marshall, a learned divine of the Lutheran church, who had 
served as chaplain to the king of Prussia for fifteen years in 
Berlin. In 1806 Father Spinner took charge of it, while still 
continuing his work in Herkimer. He had come from Germany 
towards the end of the last century, where he had been a monk, 
but afterwards renounced the Roman Catholic Church and be- 
came a Protestant clergyman. He was a man greatly beloved 
by his people, of fine presence, courtly manners, and most 
scholarly attainments. He was the missionary for all this region, 
and held services in private houses, as well as halls and 
wherever he could get the people to come. When the church 
was formally organized in 1825, under Mr. Labagh, services 
were held in Washington Hall on the corner of John 
and Broad street. Nicholas G. Weaver and Adam Brouwer 
were its elders. In 1827 Rev. John Schermerhorn came as 
a missionary, and with Abram Varick, Charles C. Brod- 
head, Captain William Clarke, organized a building commit- 
tee. A lot was donated at the head of John street by Mrs. Mor- 
ris S. Miller, but was afterwards exchanged for one on the south- 
east corner of John and Broad street, where the church 
was built and dedicated in June, 1830. The sermon was 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 55 

preached by the Rev. Dr. Ludlow, of Albany, Rev. Dr. 
Yates, Rev. Drs. Schermerhorii, P^rouwer and Pethuiie as- 
sisting in the services. It must be remembered that it was 
still a mission church, without a clergyman in charge or 
money to defray the current expenses, until in November of this 
same year when Rev. George W. Bethune was called and ac- 
cepted the charge of this newly organised parish, and the more 
clearly to establish the doctrine and precepts of the Reformed 
Dutch Church, such clergymen as the Revs. John De Witt, West- 
brook, Milledollar, Gosman, and Thomas De Witt, were invited 
each to spend a Sunday here and to fill the pulpit. I3r. Bethune's 
talents were of a high order ; gifted with eloquence, a lover of 
music and poetry, he was well fitted to draw forth the deep and 
lasting attachment of his people. An ardent disciple of Sir 
Isaac Walton, he shared with him the love of field, forest and 
flood. His mission church at the Thousand Islands testified to 
his love for the wandering sheep in the Wilderness. 

His only too brief pastorate ended in 1834, but his memory 
endures as one of the lasting treasures of the church. He died 
'n Florence. Italy, in 1862. and on the Sunday preceding his 
death, he preached in the American chapel a sermon on the 
Resurrection. His remains were brought home for burial, and 
so far as possible the minute directions concerning his funeral 
were carried out. 

"Put on me my pulpit gown and bands, with my pocket bible 
in my right hand. I have had pleasant Christian fellowship with 
all denominations, so let my pall bearers be taken from among 
them, and let a scarf be sent to Dr. Vinton of Trinity, and Dr. 
_^Smith Pyne of St. John's, Washington, D. C.*'' Dr. Hutton 
and Mr. Willetts to speak, not in eulogy, but in such terms of 
affection as they may choose, testifying to my love of preaching 
the simple gospel and that for my Master's honor, not mine. 

*A11 the pall bearers formerly wore white scarfs at the funeral and often on the follow 
ing Sunday, when they sat together to listen to the funeral sermon. 



56 A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

Dr. Ferriss to read the sentences from the funeral service 

prepared by me in the Reformed Dutch Church Liturg;y. Braun's 

funeral chant from i 5 Corinthians. Also my own hymn to a 

cheerful tune : 

It is not death to die, 

To leave this weary road, 
And midst the brotherhood on high, 

To be at home with God. 
It is not death to close 

The eyes long dimmed with tears, 
And wake in glorious repose. 

To spend eternal years. 
It is not death to bear 

The wrench that sets ns free 
From dungeon chain to breathe the air 

Of boimdless liberty. 
Ii is not death to fling 

Aside this sinfiil dust. 
And rise oii. strong exulting wing. 

To live among the just. 
Jesns, thovi Prince of Life, 

Thy chosen cannot die. 
Like Thee they conquer in the strife, 

To reign with Thee on high. 

At the close, Homman's great doxology : Now unto Him that 
loved us and brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ." 

The choirs objected that the music chosen was too joyful to be 
suitable to the mournfulness of the occasion, but it was evident 
Dr. Bethune did not wish his funeral to be over sad. He who 
had led such a life of joyful thanksgiving, would have his death 
brightened by the sunshine of the Resurrection. When he was 
laid to rest in Greenwood Cemetery at the end of a beautiful 
September day, the bright rays of a gorgeous autumnal sunset 
made his grave seem glorious with almost heavenly light. A 
tablet to his memory erected through the efforts of Mrs. Dean, 
with a touching inscription by her son, Rev. Dr. Upson, bears- 
fitting tribute to his memory in the church he had helped to build. 

The last service held in this church was in October, 1866, 
when addresses were given commemorating the individuals who 
had been identified with its early days. Among the names are 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 57 

those of Abrani \'arick, whose unfaihiif^- j^enerosity tided the 
parish over many a dark day. Charles C. Brodhead, Rufu?; 
North. Major WilHam Cdarke, Justus H. Kathbone, Joseph 
Kirkhmd. Joshua C. Spencer, P. Sheldon Root, George M. 
Weaver, Thomas E. Clarke, Charles A. Mann, Judj^^es Ciridley, 
Savage and Bacon, Mrs. Morris S. Miller, Mrs. Henry Seymour, 
Dr. Brigham, William Walcott, Samuel Stocking, Kellogg 
Hurlburt, Silas D. Childs, Edward S. ]-)rayton, John V . Sey- 
mour, George S. Dana, Thomas R. Walker. 

I think the services were never held in the Dutch language in 
this church, but in Albany for many years one service, and often 
the principal one, the sermon and psalm were all in Holland 
Dutch. I have before me a Dutch hymn book printed in Graven- 
hager, Holland, in 1825 for the " Nederduitsche Hervormde 
Gemeenten in ons Vaderland," with the hymns all set to music, 
the air or soprano only, being printed in the quaint diamond 
shaped notes. Many of them had heavy silver clasps and chains 
wherewith to hang them from the belt or arm of the wearer. 

It would have seemed strange and almost impossible to our 
Dutch forefathers that the time should ever come when the 
preaching in the Dutch language should entirely cease from its 
pulpits, the national name be dropped from its corporate name and 
title and the weather cock removed from its steeple. In Al- 
bany, the stronghold of the Hollanders, the North Dutch, 
Middle Dutch, South Dutch or Double Dutch, from its two 
not very symmetrical steeples, were like household names, and 
can not easily be given up by those whose associations reach back 
to the early days of the Reformed Dutch Church in America, 
whose existence in this country is connected with so much of 
its early history, and whose records hold some of our most famous 
names inscribed on their pages. 



58 



.-/ SKETCH OF OLD UTICA 




OLD TRINITY. 

No sketch of the Old Homes of Utica can be deemed complete 
that does not include the spiritual home of so many of our fore- 
fathers — Old Trinity so endeared to us by its associations with the 
past. To the descendants of the church of England, the sound of 
the familiar prayers and petitions of her beautiful liturgy, came 
like a voice from home in a strange land, and it is not strange 
its services should have been established here at an early day, 
even in the face of many difficulties and drawbacks. To the Rev. 
Philander Chase belongs the credit of founding old Trinity in 
1798, while Colonel Benjamin Walker must be considered its 
first lay patron. His own handsome house was not yet finished, 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 59 

and he was livinf< in a small tenement near by when Mr. Chase 
was his guest. The village at that time consisted of one long 
street, the eastern part was Main and the western the " Whites- 
boro road," while houses were scattered about indiscriminately 
in various directions. Mr. Chase established lay readings at 
this visit, but no church building was attempted until 1803, 
when a lot 100 feet deep on Broad street, and 127 feet deep 
running through to Catharine street, was given by the Blceoker 
estate as a bonus to the first church that should be built in the 
village. On the basis of subscriptions amounting to two thous- 
and dollars a church building was begun under the architect, 
Philip Hooker, of Albany, who had designed the old St. Peter's 
in that city, the State Capitol and the Albany Free Academy. 

The first warden was Judge Nathan Williams ; second, 
Abram Walton. Vestrymen— William Inman, Charles Walton ; 
John Smith, Colonel Benjamin Walker, Samuel Hcjoker, Ayl- 
mer Johnson, James Hopper, Charles Smith, 

In 1802 the Rev. John Taylor, a Presbyterian missionary, 
made a tour through this part of the state, and reported the fol- 
lowing discouraging facts concerning Utica : "This village ap- 
pears to be a mixed mass of discordant materials. Here maybe 
found people of ten or twelve different nations, (unless he 
counted the Iroquois as six we are at a loss to account for so 
many at that early day) of all religions and sects, but the 
greater part are of no religion at all. The world is the great 
object with the body of the people. The Presbyterian church of 
Utica and Whitesboro are one congregation, and there is no 
church building in Utica." With all due respect to this excel- 
lent man, we must wonder what very worldh' pursnits could be 
indulged in at that time besides the felling of trees and building 
of homes for the early settlers. Of the town of Floyd he writes : 
" The soil is good, far too good for its inhabitants," and when 
he describes .the Methodist revivals of the village of Western, 
his spirits reach the lowest ebb of depression. It was no wonder 



60 A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 

that the church of England people felt it was a good time to col- 
lect the stray sheep and form themselves into a congregation. 

This church building was not completed until 1810, when its 
cost had reached the large sum of seven thousand dollars, a 
large amount for the few church people to give. It was conse- 
crated by Bishop Benjamin Moore, then the only bishop of the 
whole state of New York. Its first rector was Rev. Jonathan 
Judd, who divided his time between Utica and Paris Hill. 

The first rector in charge was Rev. Amos G. Baldwin, from 
1806 to 18 1 8. He built the first organ with a manual or key 
board, with his own hands. It did good service for many years 
in Christ church, Sherburne, and afterwards in the Presbyterian 
church, in New York Mills, much enlarged and improved. 

Rev. Henry Shaw was Rector in 18 19 and remained for two 
years. In 1821 came the Rev. Henry Anthon, who during his 
eight years' pastorate so greatly endeared himself to the people. 
His memory is still kept green by his former parishioners — and 
he ranks as one of the prominent clergymen of New York city 
where he went from Utica. His sermons were marked by purity 
and finish of style, and his conversation displayed a high order 
of ability. During his rectorship the parsonage in rear of the 
church was built, the quaint one-story-and-a-half house with its 
door and brass knocker at one end of the enclosed piazza. On 
Dr. Anthon's leaving to accept the charge of St. Stephen's in 
New York in 1829, Dr. Benjamin Dorr was called and remained 
until 1 83 1, when he went to Christ Church, Philadelphia. In 
1836, Dr. Pierre Alexis Proal came from St. George's, Schenec- 
tady ; his fine voice and clear distinct reading of the service were 
always sources of pleasure and pride to his friends. He was a 
scholarly man, and lor many years Secretary of the General 
Convention. He was a Trustee of Hamilton College, and was 
frequently called upon to fill other educational posts. At his 
death in 1857, Rev. S. Hanson Coxe, who had been his assist- 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. gl 

ant, was called to succeed him and be[,^an his pastorate of 21 
years, the longest in the history of the parish. Rev. Charles H. 
Gardner was called in 1878, and Rev. William H. Ma.xon in 1887. 
Rev. William Harding in 1894. 

The subjoined shows the list of pew holders in 1835. It will 
be noticed there was no centre aisle, the middle tier of pews 
ran across the centre of the church and there were raised tiers 
of pews on either side at right angles to the centre. 

The Mural Tablet to Mrs. Montgomery Hunt was originally 
in the rear of the family pew and reads as follows : 

In Remembrance of 

Eliza Hunt, 

Wife of 

Montgomery Hunt, 

Who died 14th April, 1824, 

Aged 39. 

Why are friends ravished from us. 'Tis to bind 

By soft affections' ties on human hearts 
The thoiights of death ; which reason, too supine 

Or misemployed, so rarely fastens there. 

West Side. East Side. 

E. Kirb}^ R. Shearman, 

Nicholas Devereux, T. Colling, 

E. H. Benjamin, Samuel Beardsley, 

Mrs. Winne, Richard Despard, 

M. Codd, Wm. Kyte, 

J. S. Kipp, Montgomery Hunt, 

Andrews & Tryon, S. Stafford, jr.. 

Henry Seymour, Thomas H. Hubbard, 

Estate of J. Hopper, Lord & Merrill, 

John McCall, A. G. Daubv, 

B. B. Lansing, H. B. Clarke, 

Col. John Hinman, C. Grannis, 

Doctor Smith, E. B. Shearman, 

Mr. Isaiah Tiffany, Russ & Oley, 

S. A. Sibley, W^m. Bostwick, 

J. Sabin, Mr. Watkin. 

Mr. Perkins, Mr. Culver 

H. W. Lyon, Mr. Huntington, 

J. Osborne. Prentice & Bristol. 



(32 A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 



Breeze, 


Rector, 


Colton & Fanning, 


J. Sanger, 


E. Welles, 


M. J. Devlin, 


Henry Green, 


Rudolph Snyder, 


Richard Lansing, 


Judge Nathan Williams, 


E. Hart, 


John Newell, 


Mrs. Miller, 


Col. Combe, 


Brodhead & Varick, 


Wm. Gainer, 


Charles O ester, 


Amos Gage, 


S. A. Sayre, 


Ammi Dows, 


Stephen Walton 


M. Eagan. 


Z. H. Cooper. 





From the little church in the fields Trinity grew by successive 
enlargements to a goodly size, and from its handful of " feeble 
folk " arose a large and flourishing congregation, and from this 
mother church six strong parishes have arisen. If its walls 
could speak they would tell us of Bishop Moore, Bishop Hobart, 
Bishop Potter, Bishop DeLancey, Bishop Coxe, Bishoj) Hunt- 
ington, and Bishop Doane, all of New York state, whose terri- 
tory is now divided into five dioceses. 

The church, as originally built, stood back in the lot, and was 
entered through what was called "Church Lane," now First 
street, by taking down -the bars of a fence that enclosed the 
whole lot. Corn was at times planted in the yard, and the ap- 
proach to the church door was through this leafy lane of indian 
corn. In a map of the village, as it existed in 1 806, Trinity church 
is represented as standing quite alone in the rear of some houses 
on Main street. Broad street was not laid out as far as Gen- 
esee street until 1808, and this little chapel, for it was scarcely 
more than that, might well have been called Trinity in the Fields. 

The sweet toned bell which still calls the faithful to prayer 
was placed in the belfry in 181 8. Music was always a marked 
feature in the service at old Trinity. For many years Miss 
Mary Green, of Oriskany, drove down regularly to play the or- 
gan, while the deep, rich voice of Mr. Henry Green was heard in 



A SKETCH OF OLD UTICA. 



63 



the choir, with the soprano of Miss Russ, now ^[rs. J. J. Fran- 
cis, who was a member of the choir from the time she was 
twelve years of age until her marriage. During the rectorship 
of Dr. Coxe the music was said to be the best outside of New 
York, and equaled by few churches in the metropolis. Few, if 
any, have called forth the soul of music and made the organ 
speak like the genial, sunny, delightful Dr. Joseph Sieboth, 
whose settings of hymn and chant, and carol entitled him to a 
high rank among composers of sacred music. The double quar- 
tette was composed of Miss Loyd, Miss Germain, Miss Emily 
Paine, Miss Brown, Mr. Spruce, Mr. Enos Brown, Mr. Delos 
Cole, and Dr. Charles B. Foster, who for fifteen years gave such 
zealous, efficient service in this church of his adoption. With 
Dr. Coxe's full sonorous voice reading the service and Bible les- 
sons in his matchless manner from the chancel, and these voices 
breaking forth into fullest harmony from the organ gallery, it 
was indeed barkening to the sound of holy voices. Some of us 
will never forget when the sweet clear voice of Miss Loyd 
sang as a solo the alternate verses of the hymn, " Inspirer 
and Hearer of Prayer," and the lines 

" If thou art vay sun and my shield 

The night is no darkness with me ; 
And swift as m^'- moments roll on 

The}' bring me but nenrer to thee," 

seemed like a message from above, while the favorite hymns, 
"How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord," "Softly 
now the light of day," "Rock of ages, cleft for me," with Dr. 
Foster's rich voice grandly supporting all the others, seem still 
to linger in these aisles and arches. 



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